8/16/2015

Why News Is Bad For You | The American Conservative

Why News Is Bad For You

ByROD DREHERApril 18, 2013, 9:09 AM
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Well,this Rolf Dobelli essayinThe Guardian, making a case for why consuming news is bad for
you, will not make them happy at journalism schools around the country. I thought it would be a
shallow gripe about how bad news makes us sad, but I kept reading it thinking, Stop making
sense!, because hes speaking to me, a news junkie, and I can see myself in what he describes.
Excerpt:
News is irrelevant.Out of the approximately 10,000notciasyou have read in theltimos
12 meses,nomeone that porque vocconsumed it permitiu-lhemake amelhor deciso
sobrea serious matter affectinga sua vida,sua carreira ouyour business. The point is:o
consumo denews isirrelevante para voc. But peopleacham muitodifficult to recogniseo
que relevante. Its much easierde reconhecer o ques new. Therelevanteversus thenovois
the fundamental battle of theidade atual.Media organisationsquerem que voc
acreditethat newslhe oferecesome sort ofvantagem competitiva.Many fall for that.
Weficar ansiosowhen we'reafastadosthe flow ofnotcias. In reality,o consumo de
notciasis adesvantagem competitiva.The lessnotciasyou consume, the bigger
thevantagem que voc tem.
Information, in other words, is not power, but rather weakness, because were bad at sorting out
the news that matters from mere information and theres a lot of mere information. More:
News works like a drug. Ashistriasdevelop, we want tosaber comothey continue.
With hundreds of arbitrary storylines innossas cabeas, thisdesejoiscada vez
maiscompelling anddifcil de ignorar.Scientistscostumavam pensar
quethedensasconnectionsformadasamong the 100bilhes de neurniosinside our skulls
wereem grande partefixedpelo tempo quereached adulthood. Today we know that this is
not thecaso.Nerve cellsrotineiramentebreakvelhas conexesandformarnew ones.
Themais notciaswe consume, themais exercitamosthe neural circuitsdedicados
askimming and multitasking, ignorandothose usedpara a leituradeeplye pensarwith
profoundfoco.Mostde notciasconsumers mesmo queused to be avidleitores de
livros have losta capacidade de absorverlengthy articlesou livros.After four,
fivepginas que elesget tired,sua concentraovanishes, theytornam-se inquietos. It's
not becauseeles tiveramolder orseus horriosbecame more onerous. It's because the
physical structure ofseus crebroshas changed.
Thats so true. Absolutely true for me, and I hate it, but cant seem to stop. Ive always consumed
lots of news, but since the Internet, its a total compulsion. Ill sit in bed sometimes and pick up
my laptop to check email before settling in to read before sleep, and find myself sitting there an
hour later, having done nothing but browse from link to link, the book by my bedside unread.
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8/16/2015

Why News Is Bad For You | The American Conservative

This is not good.

One more:
News kills creativity.Finally,coisas que j sabemoslimit ourcriatividade.This is one
reason that mathematicians, novelists, composers andempresriosoften produce
theirmais criativosworksem uma idade jovem. Their brainsdesfrutar de umwide,
uninhabited space that emboldens-los acome up withe buscarnovel ideas. I don't
knowde uma nicatrulycriativamind who is anotciasjunkie no um escritor, not a
composer, mathematician,mdico, scientist, musician, designer,arquiteto oupainter. On
the other hand, I knowum monte deviciously uncreativementeswho consumenotcias
comodrugs. If you want to come up withantigassolutions,ler notcias. If youest
procura denew solutions, dont.
Society needs journalism but in adifferent way. Investigative journalism is always
relevant. We need reporting that polices our institutions and uncovers truth. But important
findings dont have to arrive in the form of news. Long journal articles and in-depth books
are good, too.
I have now gone without news for four years, so I can see, feel and report the effects of this
freedom first-hand: less disruption, less anxiety, deeper thinking, more time, more
insights. Its not easy, but its worth it.
Read the whole thing.Whats important to keep in mind here is that he is not saying that
ignorance is bliss, but rather that the massive consumption of information harms us and our
ability to thrive in a number of ways. I went into this article ready to make fun of it, and then
saw myself reflected back to me in a way that I recognized, and wasnt quite prepared for. This is
pretty much my brain on news:

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Why News Is Bad For You | The American Conservative

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